[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Mason Warner + Will Chase + Dominic Weaver + Persephone Dean + Claire Elliot + wearing

The room froze as Paladin called out, everyone turning to stare in shock at the blue haired teen that had suddenly appeared at a second storey window. It went downhill from there very fast. The thugs recovered first, and one of them slammed a crowbar into Overwatch's elbow. They were still outnumbered though, and it would only be a matter of time before the two thugs from the roof returned to help their friends. Paladin stepped down from the window, looking more graceful than she felt. The rubber soles of her boots were soundless on the floor, and she made a mental note that she'd have to double her proposed payment of cookies for Stephen. Over the last couple of months Overwatch had been teaching all of them some basic self-defence. They weren't experts, but they knew enough to look after themselves. As the first thug ran at her Paladin promptly forgot all of it and simply stiff armed him in the chest. Unfortunately for him she was still carrying a good deal of the charge she had collected in her fall from the roof. She dumped all of it into him. The force of the blow reverberated through the warehouse, and the man was flung back, skidding to a groaning halt when he finally hit the floor ten feet away. From the look on the other men's faces that would have been the end of it, and then the door behind them was slammed open once more, the two from the roof appearing brandishing makeshift weapons. Two of the men charged straight at Paladin, while the others turned back to fight Overwatch. Having now remembered that she had super powers, Paladin didn't flinch, instead moving forwards to meet the charge. She caught the wildly swinging crowbar, and with a thought poured that same kinetic energy back into the metal. It sprang back in the surprised man's hands to hit his face with a crunch and a spurt of blood. The second man hit her at the same time, and she groaned in surprised pain as his attack actually hurt this time. Remembering Overwatch's advice she sank her knee into his crotch, then brought her elbow down as hard as she could on the back of his shaven head. That hurt, but if she'd absorbed the kinetic energy this time her attack wouldn't have had any effect. He stumbled back, groaning, and she kicked him in the face. Falling backwards, he didn't get back up again. She turned back to the stairwell, seeing that Surge had arrived to help, and in short order they had downed the remaining men. "We… we should go…" And once more she was a little girl, not the warrior goddess she had been just a moment ago. Three days later Alice picked up her phone in the morning to see a message from Dom. There was a YouTube link and a caption, 'thought you might like this.' She clicked it, opening it. It buffered for a moment, and she read the title with interest. SUPERHEROES ARE REAL! Frowning, she turned her attention back to the video, turning the phone on its side. The footage was blurry and shaking, taken on a phone from far away. The street looked familiar, and then she saw the car embedded in a dumpster. It was where they had been ambushed. A figure climbed to their feet, wearing a costume. It was her she realised. A moment later she was gone, having leapt out of frame faster than the amateurish camera work could follow. "Oh shit" The guy who was taking the video was saying something similar, and she closed the app after looking at the view counter. 4.5 million and counting. "Crap."

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[Mason Warner]

Crashing the Masquerade

In the wake of their miraculous triumph against the ambushers, Mason had finally given up on his hope of returning to a normal life. There was no way they could stop doing what they were doing – not now they knew how good they were, emerging victorious from being outnumbered on two fronts. Once they established more of a patrol route they could really get to grips with fighting crime and making San Francisco a better place. Maybe the world! Who knows.

He also knew, however, that this meant he had to leave his old life behind. It was tough thinking about how he could survive in this new role of his without a regular pay check but… he probably couldn’t keep up his current job if he wanted to devote himself to his new vocation.

Ugh… Something to think about, anyway. He’d sit down to think about his options in the evening, maybe over the next few days. Right now he was focused on his current mission – obtain flowers for Claire; currently recovering in hospital following a pretty strong concussion.

He had what he hoped was close enough to the correct amount of money folded into his pocket, ready to be dropped discreetly into place at the till. The difficult part was first selecting the perfect ‘Get Well Soon’ bouquet and then actually taking the flowers without anyone noticing. He was confident enough in his ability to keep them concealed once he actually had a hold of them, but he wasn’t so confident that people would just forget the fact that a whole load of flowers had just disappeared before their eyes.

Maybe he should have asked Persephone to make him a bouquet… She was the plant expert after all. She could have probably grown special everlasting tulips or something. Not on such short notice, but he could use her in the future maybe. He was sure she wouldn’t mind. His mothers would love such a gift.

Instead, Mason ended up selecting a bunch of bright white lilies that caught his eye the moment he stepped into the flower shop. Mercifully he had enough money to purchase them; it would have been hard to settle for anything less. They were peaceful and understated compared to the vibrant blooms around them – perfect for Claire.

Unfortunately he had to wait ten tense minutes before the shop floor actually cleared, but it was a pretty swift operation once the opportunity arose. The flowers were in his hand and the money on the counter before anyone could even blink. He thought he caught a hint of confusion on the assistant’s face while they surveyed the stock as he left, but he didn’t linger long enough to find out if they figured out what was wrong.

Sneaking into the hospital was surprisingly easy. Finding Claire’s ward was less so but, after a streak of complete fails (he probably should have noticed the signs indicating the maternity wards) he found her resting. He looked around, checking for staff, before planting the flowers beside her bed, and speaking softly,

“Hey Ink, how’s the ol’ melon? Still remember me?”

With considerable effort, he flexed his field to bring her in, rendering himself visible to her for a moment. He offered her a concerned, sympathetic smile before the field strained and snapped back into place once more.

He was definitely getting the hang of his powers. Every time he felt like he gained another inkling of control, he swelled with hope. It felt like there truly was a future for him as Spectre.

It was kinda terrifying.

Kinda awesome.

Will Chase | Dominic Weaver | Persephone Dean | Claire Elliot | Alice Morrow

600 words

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[Dominic Weaver]

Surge The best part of “believe” is the “lie”. + Alice Morrow + Mason Warner + Will Chase + Persephone Dean + Claire Elliot

Dominic always kept an eye on trends; in fact, he had an entire department dedicated to it. In the modern age, you had to be quick, trends could rise and fall in a matter of hours, let alone days, and it was important to ride the opportunity when it came. Dominic had grown up with it, and it was one of the reasons he had been so successful. In this case, he had spotted it even before they had. The video was viral in a matter of hours, as videos in that way are, and he didn't let it drop from there. It only cost him three hours and five hundred dollars to get video from a camera mounted on the building across the street. Then another five hundred to encourage the guard to 'lose' the original copy. That video had joined the first in a meteoric rise to the front page of Youtube, Facebook, Reddit, Tumblr and Twitter. If it was a relevant social media platform, those two videos, and later mashups were on it. It had been carefully edited of course, Dominic might not have been a technical wiz, but he knew people who were, and it hadn't taken them long to remove the car's license plate. That only left the clear evidence of a human being leaping twenty feet without breaking a sweat. He'd made sure the others knew of the videos, even if he hadn't been entirely forthcoming about the origin of the second. This could be big. They might just be patrolling the back streets of San Francisco right now, but inevitably this was going to get bigger, and he had to get ahead of it before someone else had the chance. It was easy to see, just look at all of the Spiderman branded merchandise, Superman, Batman, they essentially printed money. If they were real, that would mean just so much more, society itself would be forced to change, and Dominic Weaver would be at the helm.

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